TREATMENT FACILITY GETS COUNCIL'S CONSIDERATION

The Cape Girardeau City Council tonight will hold a public hearing on a request for a special use permit for a drug and alcohol treatment facility on the corner of Linden and West End Boulevard.

The city's Planning and Zoning Commission Oct. 9 recommended the council approve the center's permit, which would be situated across the street from the former WISER Inc. building, a similar facility that closed last year.

The site also is across from the Cape County Public Health Center and the Council on the Aging, and adjacent to Southeast Missouri Halfway House Inc.

Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission said the area was an appropriate site for the treatment facility.

The Catholic Church, doing business as the Faith and Family Counseling Center requested that the property be rezoned and that a special use permit be granted for the facility.

Part of the site currently is zoned multiple-family residential and part is commercially zoned. The commission recommended the entire lot be zoned commercial. The treatment facility also requires a special use permit.

The Family Counseling Center also must seek a variance from the city's Board of Adjustment because zoning laws require a 350-foot buffer between such treatment facilities. The Southeast Missouri Halfway House is only about 150 feet from the proposed site of the Family Counseling Center.

The council discussed the matter at a Sept. 3 meeting, when Mayor Gene Rhodes questioned the buffer requirement. The council took no action on the matter.

Plans call for a 17,500-square-foot center to treat women and children, primarily for alcohol problems. The facility would treat up to 16 women and 10 children under 12 years of age.

The council also will consider acceptance of improvements on Lexington Avenue, as the second phase of the project recently was completed.

By accepting the improvements, the city can bill property owners for their share of the improvement costs. The total cost of Section 1B of the Lexington project was $83 per front foot.

Property owners will be billed for $25 a front foot, and, due to a design flaw, the engineering firm that drafted the plans will pay a portion of the additional costs. The city's total cost for the segment of the project is about $230,000.

In a related matter, the council will consider a resolution declaring it necessary to proceed with the section of Lexington from Carolina Lane to the intersection of Perryville Road.

If the council approves the resolution, a public hearing will be held Nov. 18 on the item, and the maximum tax bill for the improvements would be set at $25 per front foot.

In other business, the council will hold a public hearing on two annexation petitions for property north and west of the city limits.

The first petition is from the Cape Special Road District for a section of Cape Rock Drive from Lexington Avenue north about 2,700 feet.

In a letter to the council, City Planner Kent Bratton called the measure a "clean-up" petition.

"The current situation is that the city limits run along the west line of Cape Rock Drive and there have been a number of occasions over the years where confusion has resulted over who has jurisdiction," Bratton said.

"This will also help control speeding on this section of Cape Rock Drive."

The second petition is a joint petition from Cape Special Road District and First Exchange Bank for 3,200 feet of Bloomfield Road west of the city limits. It also includes a 24-acre tract that's owned by First Exchange Bank.

Bratton said Robert Penrod initiated the petition and hopes to buy the land for development.

If after holding the public hearing the council determines the annexation is needed and the city can supply city services to the area within a reasonable time, the council can proceed with the annexation.